Hey Bush Baptist, or can I call you BB?I understand that Brown snake eagle works, and please don't think I am disputing it... I just have to ask, if the Rator I posted on page 34 is a BSE, and the 2 on this page I posted this afternoon are also BSE's - isn't that a bit of an anomally, they don't (IMHO) look much alike.As a fledgling birder, I am just trying to learn. What is it I need to look for and how do I identify these stupid feathered friends, if they look so little alike?

I mean, what is it I need to pinpoint as a basis for identification?Other birds I can do relatively easily if I can see enough of them, but the Raptors floor me!I even went and bought a Sasol Bird of Prey identification book to help me out, Tionet agreed we needed one because honestly, even between birds of the same type, there can be such big differences that you end up mis-identifying them.This whole DCG and Gabar Goshawk thing kills me too - if you can't judge the size - and can't see the tail in detail, from the back they look identical - not to mention the Lizard Buzzard......AAAARRrgggghh!Why couldn't I have picked an easier Hobby!Never confused a leopard awith a Hyena, or an elephant, or a bushbuck... ad infinitum!

For example, I was looking at the pic of the Raptor top of pg 36, and trying to identify it, I came up with Tawny eagle Juv - cuz that was the closest to what ALL my books told me - but even then it had colours in the wrong places, it was not meant to have such a dark trailing edge to the wing and the under wing and body colour should have been darker brownish, not cream coloured, as per foto given..... most entries I could find, showed that the Tawny has a long rounded tail, but the one in the pic was wedge shaped, not straight the way you would usually expect from the Tawny.GGGGGrrrrrrrrr..........

A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?"Author Unknown"Do-nv-da-go-hv-iuntil we meet again - Cherokee language

michaelpr,Brown Snake-eagle, if you play with the exposure you'll see the bare legs, and he has a very broad head and neck, with long crown feathers. The very upright posture is typical and they have the habit of sitting on top of a tree or branch in the open like this.

Lizet Grobbelaar wrote:michaelpr,Brown Snake-eagle, if you play with the exposure you'll see the bare legs, and he has a very broad head and neck, with long crown feathers. The very upright posture is typical and they have the habit of sitting on top of a tree or branch in the open like this.

We saw it in August 2009 near Shingwedzi in KNP. Based on the first photo and particularly the shape of the head, etc., I think Brown Snake- Eagle without a doubt, though the colour bothers me a bit. However, see also the next photo. My friend, who also took some photos, thinks maybe Bat Hawk. The photos are already heavily cropped, but if you zoom in closely on some of the photos, a touch of white below its throat becomes evident. I assume the size should have given it away clearly, but we can’t recall the size clearly. It is really difficult to judge the size now on the photo, as it was sitting far in the distance, perched on the tree.